Stereomud Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
While every alternative metal band can no doubt assert that its lyrics exploring gloomy landscapes of mishandled relationships/too many wedgies in gym class/tortured Oedipal complexes offer the maximum amount of renewal and release for its fans, most albums in the genre are actually elaborate piss for distance contests. Who has the best Mesa Boogie rectifiers, the strongest vocal chords, and the most bitchin' tattoos? These are the pressing issues that are dealt with subliminally on Every Given Moment. While Stereomud's 2001 debut, Perfect Self, was a sometimes credible alt-metal growler with almost no distinguishing characteristics, the follow-up is a beast from Hell. Thanks to producer/engineer John Travis (Kid Rock, Buckcherry), Stereomud somehow sounds even more enormous, with multiple layers of roaring guitar, gritty, sludgy basslines, and propulsive, beefy drumming. This is a huge plus in a genre where bands live and die by the tenets of volume, rage, and tough-guy rock posing. "Show Me"'s quiet-loud dynamics are utterly predictable, but nevertheless launch the album out of the gate effectively. "Anything but Jesus" is a Disturbed sound-alike; fortunately, it's not even close to being Every Given Moment's high watermark. The album hits its stride with "Define This," a song that will crush unworthy stereo systems with its lockstep rhythms and faceless slabs of depraved guitar tone. Stereomud shoots itself in the foot with "Coming Home." Though it's a valiant attempt at melodic alt-metal, it fails when surrounded by the full-throttle funny-car thunder of tracks like "Drop Down" and "Fallen." Every Given Moment should give Stereomud bragging rights in the nu-metal herd, at least until DOD develops an even sicker distortion/compression pedal. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
By the end of the '80s, hair metal -- the most popular form of hard rock on the market -- had become a profitable formula, with record companies cranking out band after band that sold albums in direct proportion to how well they epitomized the formula that hair metal's core audience had come to expect. Although the sound and philosophy of alternative metal -- whether its early or late period -- are as far removed from hair metal as you can get, the end of the '90s saw exactly the same phenomenon occurring in that genre. While the most popular alt-metal bands had slight variations in their sounds that were obvious to dedicated fans, to most outside observers (and fans of old-school metal) they all sounded pretty much the same by the end of the decade. Which brings us to Perfect Self, the debut album by Stereomud. It's a fairly standard, pretty well-executed, turn-of-the-millennium alt-metal album, drawing on the familiar Korn/Deftones influences -- although there's perhaps a bit less of a rap influence here than with some of their contemporaries. To untrained ears, it's no better or worse than their competition, because whatever flaws it has simply sound like the flaws of the alt-metal formula in general. The band relies on fury, noise, and groove -- not riffs or melodies -- to get its music across, and its shouted chants can be catchy and intense enough to hook listeners who've grown up with alt-metal (but no one who isn't sold on the style as a whole). So, Perfect Self winds up a creditable entry in the still-flourishing alt-metal sweepstakes -- even if outsiders hungry for a new trend might wonder how much longer the Prize Patrol will be coming around. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
